After verse 7, the rakia exists. It was decreed in v.6, made in v.7, confirmed with va-yehi-chen. Now God does something He has done once before, in v.5: He names it. The act of naming — וַיִּקְרָא (va-yikra) — recurs as a consistent feature of creation: God does not merely make things, He defines them. And the name He gives the rakia introduces one of the most structurally unusual words in the entire Hebrew Bible: שָׁמַיִם (Shamayim), a word that exists only in the plural.
Word-by-Word Breakdown
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Root / Note | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָא | va-yikra | Root ק-ר-א (kara) — to call, name, proclaim. Vav-consecutive + Qal imperfect, 3rd masc. sing. Same verb used in v.5 when God named light "Day" and darkness "Night." In the Torah, God naming something = claiming sovereignty over it and establishing its identity | And God called |
| אֱלֹהִים | Elohim | Subject | God |
| לָרָקִיעַ | la-rakia | Preposition לְ + definite article + רָקִיעַ. The specific rakia made in v.7 — already established, now receiving its permanent name | to the rakia / to the firmament |
| שָׁמָיִם | shamayim | Dual/plural noun — no singular form exists in Biblical Hebrew. Two dominant etymologies: (1) שָׁם מַיִם — "there is water there," pointing to the waters above the rakia (v.7); (2) אֵשׁ מַיִם — "fire and water," the sky where fire (sun, lightning) and water (clouds, rain) coexist. A third view (Rashi) derives it from נָשָׂא מַיִם — "that which carries water" | Heaven / the Heavens |
| וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב | va-yehi erev | Same closing formula from v.5: ה-י-ה + עֶרֶב (evening). The day ends with darkness | And there was evening |
| וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר | va-yehi voker | ה-י-ה + בֹּקֶר (morning). The root ב-ק-ר means "to break through" — morning as light breaking through darkness. The cycle closes | And there was morning |
| יוֹם שֵׁנִי | yom sheni | שֵׁנִי = ordinal numeral "second" (from שְׁנַיִם, two). Contrast v.5: יוֹם אֶחָד (yom echad) — cardinal "one day," not "first day." After Day 2 the text uses ordinals exclusively (second, third, fourth…). Rashi: Day 1 used a cardinal because God was alone — ordinals require at least two | The second day |
Va-Yikra: Naming as Sovereignty
The verb קָרָא (kara) carries more weight than "to call." In the Torah, when God calls something by a name, He is establishing its nature, its role, its identity within the created order. The act of naming is an act of authority — which is why the naming of animals in Genesis 2 is given to Adam as a sign of human stewardship. Only a sovereign names. When a new name is given in the Torah, it signals a fundamental change in status or identity (Abram → Abraham; Jacob → Israel; Sarai → Sarah).
In Genesis 1, God names three things directly: Day, Night, and Heaven. He will name two more in v.10: Earth and Seas. The naming of the Shamayim in v.8 completes the naming of the vertical axis — above (Shamayim) was named here; below (Earth) will be named in v.10.
Va-Yikra (ק-ר-א) — The Naming Pattern in Genesis 1
Shamayim: Why Is Heaven Always Plural?
One of the most structurally unusual features of the word שָׁמַיִם is that it has no singular form. You cannot say "one shamai" in Hebrew — the word does not exist. Shamayim is always dual or plural. This is grammatically parallel to מַיִם (mayim, water) and פָּנִים (panim, face) — words that appear only in the plural.
The competing etymologies each explain this differently:
שָׁם מַיִם (sham mayim) — "there is water there." This connects the name directly to the structural fact established in v.7: the waters above the rakia. Heaven is named after what it holds above it — the celestial reservoir that feeds the rain and, in Genesis 7:11, the "floodgates of heaven" that open. The plural could reflect the dual waters separated across the rakia: below and above.
אֵשׁ מַיִם (esh mayim) — "fire and water." The sky is the place where fire (the sun, lightning, the pillar of fire) and water (clouds, rain, dew) coexist. The plural or dual form reflects this dual nature — a realm that holds two opposing elements in perpetual balance. The heavens are where the fire of day and the dew of night meet.
Both etymologies are preserved in rabbinic literature and neither has displaced the other. What they share is an acknowledgment that the sky is not a simple thing — it is a domain of paradox and multiplicity, which is precisely why the language insists on its plural form.
The Missing Ki-Tov — Why Day 2 Has No "It Was Good"
Day 1: ki-tov (it was good). Day 2: nothing. Day 3: ki-tov twice. Days 4–6: once each. Day 2 is the only day in the creation account where God does not declare His work good. This is not an oversight. The Talmud and Rashi both address it directly.
Rashi's explanation (from Bereshit Rabbah): The separation of the upper and lower waters was not complete on Day 2. The lower waters still covered the whole earth — they were not gathered into seas until Day 3. A work that is not yet finished cannot receive ki-tov. On Day 3, the gathering of the waters completes what was begun on Day 2, which is why Day 3 receives ki-tov twice: once for Day 2's unfinished work being completed, and once for Day 3's own creation (vegetation).
A second tradition (also in Bereshit Rabbah): the ki-tov was withheld because Day 2 created division — מַחֲלֹקֶת (machlokot), separation, strife. Wherever there is separation, the language of "good" is withheld. Creation brings order, but the order of Day 2 involved the separation of things that had been together — and separation, even necessary separation, carries ambiguity.
Yom Sheni vs. Yom Echad: The Ordinal Shift
Day 1 of creation was described as יוֹם אֶחָד (yom echad) — literally "one day," using the cardinal number one, not the ordinal "first." Starting with Day 2, the text shifts to ordinals: יוֹם שֵׁנִי (second), יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי (third), and so on. The shift is grammatically deliberate and noted by every major commentator.
Rashi's explanation: ordinal numbers imply a sequence with at least two members. On Day 1, there was nothing else — God was alone in His act of creation. You cannot be "first" if there is no second. The cardinal "one day" reflects the ontological aloneness of the first day. The appearance of Day 2 — the first day of distinction and separation — makes Day 1 retroactively "first." From this point the sequence is established, and ordinals become appropriate.
There is a deeper resonance here: the opening verse (v.1) used bara — creation from nothing. Day 1 was the day of pure origination. The use of the cardinal "one" for that day reflects the uniqueness of a moment that has no precedent. Once the second day arrives and the created order begins to build on itself, the grammar of sequence takes over.
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